The sacrament is something that unites not only Mormon sects, but also more than 30% of humanity.
The Mormon sacrament prayers originate from LDS Moroni 4:3 and 5:2. They are:
Bread:
O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake of it; that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son, and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him, and keep his commandments which he hath given them, that they may always have his Spirit to be with them. Amen.
Water:
O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee, in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this wine to the souls of all those who drink of it, that they may do it in remembrance of the blood of thy Son, which was shed for them; that they may witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they do always remember him, that they may have his Spirit to be with them. Amen.
LDS Moroni 4:2 also specifies that everyone in attendance kneels during these prayers.
The next modification comes when the church was organized. This version can be found in LDS D&C 20:77,79 / RLDS D&C 17:22D,23B:
Bread:
O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake of it, that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son, and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him and keep his commandments which he has given them; that they may always have his Spirit to be with them. Amen.
Wine:
O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this wine to the souls of all those who drink of it, that they may do it in remembrance of the blood of thy Son, which was shed for them; that they may witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they do always remember him, that they may have his Spirit to be with them. Amen.
LDS D&C 20:76 / RLDS D&C 17:22c also specifies that everyone in attendance kneels during these prayers.
The next change came with LDS D&C 27:2 / RLDS D&C 26:1B-1C:
For, behold, I say unto you, that it mattereth not what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink when ye partake of the sacrament, if it so be that ye do it with an eye single to my glory–remembering unto the Father my body which was laid down for you, and my blood which was shed for the remission of your sins.
The Community of Christ today does not have the sacrament every week; they often only have it once a month. The practice of having it weekly did not start for the Brighamites until the 1850s; There was no decree or anything, it was just a cultural development that happened over time.
Community of Christ still encourages everyone to kneel during the sacrament prayers, whereas in the LDS church its just the priests.
The LDS church has made a couple of adjustments regarding who can pass the sacrament, while it is still the priests who retain this in RLDS.
Passing the sacrament first to the presiding church authority is an LDS tradition.
Community of Christ has also decided to further change their sacrament prayers. This is their official guideline. It features the traditional usage from the Doctrine and Covenants as well as some contemporary language and a combined bread/wine prayer. In the contemporary language, God is not gendered.
Additionally, Community of CHrist has embraced video conferencing during the pandemic. They say the sacrament prayers but everyone prepares their own. They also take “it mattereth not what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink when ye partake of the sacrament” very literally; I have seen people eat an M&M and drink coffee for the sacrament.
All of this is very interesting, but what’s the point? The sacrament prayer says its to take upon the name of Jesus, remember Jesus, keep commandments, and have the Spirit. Let’s look at each of those:
“Take upon the name of Jesus” essentially just means that you like what Jesus has to say, and want to integrate it into your life.
Within this context, “remember Jesus” usually refers to the atonement. While most people think there is only one exclusive purpose for the atonement, this isn’t true when we explore the greater Christian world. There are quite a few theories, with many of them being pretty different from what I was raised to believe. Today I subscribe to the “Moral Influence Theory” which says that the chief purpose of the atonement was to set an example of how to live a good and moral life. Even after being crucified, Jesus wanted his torturers to be forgiven. I think trying to set aside some time to think about being that compassionate and forgiving once a week is an ok thing to do.
The next part of the sacrament prayer is to “keep commandments”, which in this context refers to baptism. Baptism is necessary to cleanse away sin. These are big, core concepts that rightfully deserve their own post to fully flesh out, so I’ll only do a little overview for now. When I was studying to become a Buddhist minister they tried to explain to us that “sin” has an extremely different connotation in the East; it is basically synonymous with “ignorance”. Its not really a source of shame, but it is something to strive to do away with. My Christian Exmo friend told me once that sin is what separates people.. With these definitions, Baptism is essentially a ritual where you commit to doing away with ignorance and strive to be close to others. Another purpose of the sacrament is to re-commit to these goals.
The last part of the sacrament prayer is “have the spirit”. Arguably my Christian friend’s definition applies here as well. Be close to the Divine; sit with it. I was taught that things like sexuality, cursing, unorthodox beliefs, coffee, etc could only ever distance me from the Divine. I ended up adopting these beliefs myself for a large portion of my life. They have largely served as unnecessary roadblocks from me being close to the Divine. It has taken years of actively thinking about if these beliefs are worthwhile or able to be retooled/repurposed. In some cases they are able to be repurposed, but in others I’ve found that its just best to get past those roadblocks and move on. Buddhists would call these roadblocks “attachments”. They’re things that you have trouble letting go of. I have found that it takes time and effort to let some of these attachments of. I’ve done a lot of writing, praying, and talking about these concepts with people similar to me and also very different from me. This is a good depiction of what it feels like to me. I have largely worked to get over these roadblocks I inherited and I feel like I absolutely am closer to the Divine. Taking part in a ritual to remind myself of this can be refreshing.
In addition, there is one more purpose that goes unspoken in the Sacrament prayers. When I was regularly attending Community of Christ I was astounded at how this ritual seemed to bring a sense of community (even though we were often hundreds of miles apart from each other). Participating in a ritual like this can absolutely be a meaningful experience (but I recognize its not for everyone). It certainly has a new meaning for me.
All that being said, I am a firm believer that this is my interpretation. You should find your own meaning of what it means to you. Do you have a meaning of what it means to you that you’d like to share?
BONUS:
If I were to re-write the sacrament prayers, they would read as follows:
Food:
O God, the eternal Creator, we ask you in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this food to all the souls who eat it. They eat it in remembrance of the body of your Son and to show you that they are willing to take upon them the name of your son, always remember him, keep the commandments which he has given them, and have the Spirit to be with them. Amen.
Drink:
O God, the eternal Creator, we ask you in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this drink to all the souls who drink it. They drink it in remembrance of the blood of your Son, which was shed for them, and to show you that they are willing to take upon them the name of your son, always remember him, keep the commandments which he has given them, and have the Spirit to be with them. Amen.
It is gender neutral, food/drink neutral, and flows well in layman’s english.
EDIT 9/27/20:
After hearing someone in the Universal Mormon Church consolidate all of the modes of the Divine to reference one person, I would prefer to do that for myself moving forward.
Food:
O God, the eternal Creator, we ask you to bless and sanctify this food to all the souls who eat it. We eat it in remembrance of your body to show you that we are willing to take upon us your name, always remember you, take the advice you give us, and have the Spirit to be with us. Amen.
Drink:
O God, the eternal Creator, we ask you to bless and sanctify this drink to all the souls who drink it. We drink it in remembrance of your blood which was shed for us, to show you that we are willing to take upon us your name, always remember you, take the advice you give us, and have the Spirit to be with us. Amen.